CONTRIBUTORS/GUEST POSTERS

Meet The British Disney Diva JANE GLANVILLE-DUCKWORTH

Jane is a freelance writer who’s always ready to undertake new & exciting job opportunities or projects……. the Patriotic British member of the ‘Tips from the Disney Diva’ writing team; penning articles as “British Diva”. She has also contributed articles to ‘The Real Disney Mom’, the Disney Brit magazine ‘Mousemag’, The Adult Side of Disney & DIStherapy. Our British Disney Diva loves to immerse herself in the planning of a Disney vacation – be it one of her own or another lucky families. She aims to do random acts of kindness & think happy thoughts each and every day!

 

MEET CAMBREY FULLER GILBERT

Hello! I love all things Disney. I grew up going to WDW and now that I have a child of my own we go to DLR as often as we can, 9x in the past 2 years! We are DLAP holders and DVC members and keep our Disneyland “Go Bags” packed and ready at all times. I joke with people that my son and I are going to move under the drawbridge at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. I could probably make money helping people plan their Disney Vacations, heaven knows I spend most of my life planning trips for myself and others, but that takes the magic out of it. I am looking forward to starting the RunDisney experience in 2014.

MEET RACHEL HORSLEY

Rachel is a happily married 30-something mother of Andrew, a toddler & budding Disney addict, who refers to Mickey as “da-da.” (“Dear, if Mickey were your da-da we would be staying in the castle.”) For over 12 years, she’s worked in the media industry as a writer, producer, video editor and/or coordinator. At present she enjoys her work as a Video Post Coordinator for a number of online universities.

For nearly 20 years, she’s helped friends and family plan magical Disney vacations. As a DVC & D23 member, annual passholder, and even a Disney Mom’s Panel finalist, Rachel is at her best when planning or sharing her love of all things Disney!

rachorsley@gmail.com

MEET TANIA LAMB

Jambo! My family answers the phone this way, so we can keep the magic alive when we’re not visiting Disney World. I am a mom to 5 sassy little princesses (No, we’re not trying for a boy), and we love to visit Disney World as often as we can! Each Disney experience is new as our family increases in size. My husband and I also love to take babymoons there without the kids, so I have experienced Disney World pregnant many times in all trimesters. My favorite activity outside of the parks is getting my dance on at The Atlantic Dance Hall on Disney’s Boardwalk.

I have fallen in love with runDisney races and can’t wait to run them all! RunDisney inspires me to run longer and train harder and Disney inspires kindness, imagination, and fun in my family. Plus I’m a Disney snack fiend. How can I stay away? I’m excited to share some posts in Spanish, so I can practice it more and hopefully answer questions and share information to Spanish speaking guests. Come chat with me on Twitter-@Lolalambchops!

TANIA’S POSTS WILL  BE PUBLISHED IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH!

MEET PHILLIP ACTON!

I’m Phillip – Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas.  If you know what that means, then we speak the same language.  If you don’t know, then just ask anyone associated with this site : )

I’m married and stay-at-home dad.  After 25 years as a competitive gymnastics coach, gym owner, administrator, etc., I decided that it was time for me to find a new career that would allow me to stay at home with my kids, offer some true flexibility, and just be loads of FUN!!  That’s where Disney comes in.  I have loved Disney for as long as I can remember.  I (like many of you) am the “Disney-guy” where I live.  For years, friends and family members have been coming to me asking for help planning their Disney vacations. Very long story short, I have turned my love for Disney into a great career!  Nothing gives me greater pleasure than helping people find “the back side of water”, and if you don’t believe that, you must be in “de-Nile”. : )  Anywho, enough “Disney Jungle Cruise” references, but I’m sure you’ll get the point……in the end.

I am a College of Disney Knowledge graduate, I own Family Magic Travel, and I work for two GREAT companies. I am an Independent Contractor with Allure Travel Group (full-service travel agency), and I’m an Ambassador with Stay At WDW (huge discounted rates at Disney’s Deluxe Villa Resorts). Many people sell Disney’s Deluxe Villas, we just happen to do it for less.  You can reach me at familymagictravel@gmail.com, or you can follow me on twitter @family_magic

MEET JODI WELNER!

I have been a Disney/Disney World fan since I can remember. I grew up with The Magical World of Disney and my first trip to the “magical” Disney World was in 1976 with my single mom and back then Disney World was the Magic Kingdom along with just a few resorts. I had only dreamed about staying at one of those resorts back then;-)

During my teenage years, I grew up in the Northeast (Philly to be exact) but I had family members move to Florida so we made a few more trips. Eating at a “sit-down/table service” Disney restaurant was another dream of mine.

After graduating college I found myself relocating to Florida with my mom. How nice it was to be just a few hours drive away from my favorite place.

When I met my husband we started to vacation in Disney World a few times a year making my “dreams” realities . When my daughter turned 2 we began to visit more often and another Disney food fan was created! My daughter has been to Disney World at least 40x since, lucky her!

Seemed like every trip evolved around where we were going to be eating and we wanted to share our experiences and then www.disneydiningreviews.com was born. Our review web site was created some years ago as a reference tool for anyone planning a Disney World vacation with “lots of eating” in mind;-)

With the inception of the Disney Dining Plans most guests are now making Advanced Dining Reservations so they want to know more than ever what restaurants are best for them and what they may be like.

Most of my professional background has been in advertising, graphic design and merchandising. This background has helped bring this website together and as my daughter matures into a young adult she is also becoming more seriously involved in photography so she has become my main photographer for the photos on this site.

It has become a family endeavor which we find fun as well as rewarding as we try to help other families create their vacations of a lifetime:-)

disneydiningreviews@hotmail.com
www.disneydiningreviews.com
http://www.facebook.com/DisneyDiningReviews

MEET MELISSA GARDNER!

Hi! I’m Melissa. I’m a wife, mommy, higher education administrator and big time Disney lover. I am a former Walt Disney World Cast Member, when my true love for all things Disney began. The sight of Cinderella’s Castle at the end of Main Street U.S.A. never fails to bring a happy tear to my eye, Expedition Everest at night is my favorite ride experience, and no fireworks show will ever top IllumiNations! I am a Disney Vacation Club member, and enjoy my trips these days with my husband, son, and my parents! You can find me elsewhere on the web on my blog, Filling Our Bucket and on Twitter at @MelissaG813.

MEET COREY APPLEGATE!

My name is Corey Applegate and I am a former Marine turned Army wife and stay at home mom.  I have been going to Walt Disney World since the opening of Epcot, and have gone on more trips than I can count.  Now, I spend my trips sharing the magic of my childhood with my husband and daughter as we explore new experiences every time we go.

MEET SHANNON DILL!

Hi, I’m Shannon.  I am wife, mother, lover of God and just about everything Disney – but especially the Disney Parks and runDisney. Fortunately, my family not only tolerates my Disney-love, they whole heartedly support it. Walt Disney World is my “home” destination, but I also love Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure and just to shake it up I have been to Hong Kong Disneyland and plan to make it to the Tokyo Disney Resort and Disneyland Paris.  I like to pinch pennies on some aspects of our trips so that we can be extravagant on others. I’ve stayed on property and off and know the benefits of both.  I was a part of the Disney InsidEARS program before it went into the ether and perhaps like you, I’ve applied to be on the Disney Mom’s Panel a time or two. I enjoy helping family and friends plan their magical adventures to the Disney Parks and if you need convincing that you can take a “child-free” trip, just let me know. You can find me tweeting about Disney, running, and staying semi-sane at @PurveyorofPD and on Facebook at Purveyor of Pixie Dust.

MEET PAM POLLARO!

I have been a big fan of all things Disney since watching the original Mickey Mouse Club and The Wonderful World of Color. I knew my parents couldn’t afford to take us to Disneyland as it was too expensive but when the World’s Fair came to New York in 1964-1965, I was in my glory.  Everything I had watched was now here right in front of me.  It’s a Small World! Carousel of Progress! Oh, I so wanted to go to California…..fast forward to 1973 – my parents took me and my sister plus a friend (Brother was too old to go) to Florida for April vacation…. unbeknownst to me, my parents planned a day at Walt Disney World…18 months after opening there was only the Magic Kingdom….and the rest, as they say is history. Lost count at 57 times going to the WORLD, been to Disneyland (now Disneyland Resort) 4 times, and once to EuroDisney (Now called Disneyland Paris). To this day when I am at the World, I always go to Carousel of Progress, back to my roots as it were.

I started in the travel industry in 1979 as a receptionist and have done leisure/vacation travel, corporate travel, and now training.  As I loved Disney – as a new agent, I would sit and plan trips for people in my head. Soon it became known in the office that if you wanted anything Disney – the other agents would just turn and point to me. Even as I became management – Disney was my forte. When I made the jump to corporate travel – I just couldn’t let go of my dear Disney – so I would plan trips for the other agents in the office.  I even planned 2 trips for the entire office together!  Hearing the agents say on the way back from Orlando late Sunday night, that was the best familiarization trip I’ve ever been on.  The company I work for now is totally corporate – and as a trainer when my participants are practicing I always make them book Orlando or Orange County.  They know whenever they are on an internet session and those airports are used – they know who is leading.  I’ve had directors, VPs, managers, project managers, and consultants contact me for my advice.  When training international classes – I make the consultants book a trip to all of the Parks – Hong Kong, Paris, and it is so much fun.  I LOVE DISNEY!  Its me – you can take the girl out of Disney but you can’t take Disney out of the girl….well, way more than girl.  Now….when am I going to go again?!  Who’s with me?

P.S. I am a College of Disney Knowledge graduate

Contact info: lvdizznee@aim.com